February theme: Weather ⛈️

Teaser

wind, window, nirvana, vent, weather, athlete, fan, atmosphere

Full Text

• Proto-Indo-European *h₂weh₁- to blow (of wind) ^[1]

  • Proto-Indo-European *h₂wéh₁(n)-ti to be blowing imperfective

    • Balto-Slavic *wḗˀtei

      • East Baltic

        • Lithuanian vėtyti to winnow
      • Slavic *vějati to blow (of wind), to winnow

        • East Slavic

          • Russian ве́ять véjatʹ to blow gently, to flutter, to winnow
        • South Slavic

          • Serbo-Croatian ве̏јати vȅjati to winnow, to blow violenty
        • West Slavic

          • Polish wiać to blow (of wind), to run, to escape
    • Germanic *wēaną to blow (of wind)

      • East Germanic

        • Gothic 𐍅𐌰𐌹𐌰𐌽 waian to blow (of wind)
      • West Germanic

        • Old English wāwan to blow (of wind)
        • Old High German wāen

          • German wehen to blow (of wind)
    • Hellenic *awēmi

      • Ancient Greek ἄημι áēmi
    • Indo-Iranian *Hwā́-ti

      • Indo-Aryan

        • Sanskrit वाति vā́ti to blow, to smell, to hurt

          • Sanskrit वान vāna blown past participle

            • Sanskrit निर्वाण nirvāṇa blowing out, cessation, disappearance, emancipation from matter, extinction of individual existence, passion, or desire

              • Magadhi

                • Bengali নির্বাণ nirbaṇ nirvana, extinguishment
              • Pali nibbāna

                • Thai นิพพาน níp-paan nirvana, ascendance, death
                • Middle Chinese

                  • Mandarin 涅槃 nièpán nirvana
                  • Japanese ねはん nehan nirvana, enlightenment, death of the Buddha, death, salvation
                  • Korean 열반 yeolban nirvana
                  • Vietnamese niết bàn nirvana
              • Sinhala නිවන nivana
              • Hindi निर्वाण nirvāṇ extinguished, blown out, nirvana
              • Punjabi ਨਿਰਵਾਣ nirvāṇ
              • English nirvana
      • Iranian

        • Avestan 𐬬𐬁𐬌𐬙𐬌 vāiti
        • Western Iranian

          • Persian وزیدن vazidan to blow, to bluster
  • Proto-Indo-European *h₂wéh₁n̥t-s blowing (adjective), that which blows, wind, air

    • Anatolian

      • Hittite 𒄷𒉿𒀭𒍝 ḫu-wa-an-za
    • Celtic *wintos wind

      • Brythonic *gwɨnt wind

        • Welsh gwynt wind
      • Old Irish fet whistle
    • Germanic *windaz wind

      • East Germanic

        • Gothic 𐍅𐌹𐌽𐌳𐍃 winds wind
      • North Germanic

        • Old Norse vindr wind

          • Icelandic vindur wind
          • Swedish vind wind, attic, loft
          • Old Norse vindauga window lit. "wind-eye"

            • Danish vindue window
            • Swedish vindöga window (archaic)
            • English window
            • Irish fuinneog window
      • West Germanic

        • Old English wind wind

          • English wind wind
        • Old High German wint wind

          • German Wind wind
          • Yiddish ווינט vint wind
      • Germanic *windwōną to toss into the wind, to throw about, to winnow

        • East Germanic

          • Gothic *𐍅𐌹𐌽𐌸𐌾𐌰 *winþjan

            • Gothic 𐌳𐌹𐍃𐍅𐌹𐌽𐌸𐌾𐌰 diswinþjan to throw (grain) apart, to scatter like chaff
        • North Germanic

          • Old Norse vinza to winnow

            • Icelandic vinza to winnow
        • West Germanic

          • Old English windwian to winnow, to blow away, to ventilate

            • English winnow
            • Scots windo winnow
          • Old High German wintōn to fan, to winnow
    • Hellenic *awḗəts

      • Ancient Greek ἀείς aeís blowing
    • Indo-Iranian

      • Indo-Aryan

        • Sanskrit वात vā́ta wind, air, God of Wind

          • Sauraseni

            • Pali vāta wind
          • Telugu వాతము vātamu wind, air
      • Iranian

        • Avestan 𐬬𐬁𐬙𐬀 vāta
        • Western Iranian

          • Kurdish با ba weather, wind
          • Persian باد bâd wind

            • Pashto باد bâd wind (archaic)
    • Italic *wentos wind

      • Latin ventus wind

        • Sardinian bentu wind
        • Eastern Romance

          • Romanian vânt wind

            • Romanian a avânta to rush at
        • Western Romance

          • French vent wind, empty words

            • English vent
            • French ventail leaf (of a door), panel (of a window), ventail (archaic)

              • English ventail
          • Italian vento wind
          • Spanish viento wind, woodwind

            • Spanish aventar to blow, to fan, to throw, to blow away
        • Latin ventulus slight wind, breeze

          • Latin ventilo I toss, I swing, I brandish, I expose to draught, I winnow

            • Sardinian bentulai
            • Eastern Romance

              • Romanian a vântura to winnow, to fan, to wander
            • Western Romance

              • Spanish beldar to winnow
            • English ventilate
            • French ventiler
            • Italian ventilare
        • Latin ventosus windy

          • Sardinian bentosu
          • Eastern Romance

            • Romanian vântos windy, breezy
          • Western Romance

            • French venteux windy

              • French ventouse plunger, suction cup, ventouse, sucker

                • English ventouse
                • Greek βεντούζα ventoúza plunger, suction cup
              • French Ventôse six month of the French Republican calendar
            • Italian ventoso windy, conceited
            • Spanish ventoso windy
        • Vulgar Latin *ventana

          • Spanish ventana window

            • Tagalog bintana window
        • Latin *exventō I expose to air

          • Sardinian sbintari to air, to aerate, to degas
          • Eastern Romance

            • Romanian a zvânta to dry, to air, to thrash
          • Western Romance

            • French éventer to air, to ventilate, to expose to wind, to fan, to go stale, to go flat

              • French éventail fan, range, array
              • English vent
            • Italian sventare to foil, to thwart, to baffle
    • Tocharian *wʲente

      • Arshian want wind
      • Kushean yente wind
  • Proto-Indo-European *h₂weh₁yu-s

    • Balto-Slavic *wēyas

      • Lithuanian vė́jas wind, God of Wind

        • Sanskrit वायु vāyú wind, God of Wind, the element of air, breath
        • Avestan 𐬬𐬀𐬌𐬌𐬎 vaiiu air, wind, the space between earth and heaven
    • Indo-Iranian
  • Proto-Indo-European *h₂wéhdro-m weather,

    • Proto-Albanian *ŭ(n)dərā

      • Albanian vrëndë light rain
    • Balto-Slavic

      • Slavic

        • East Slavic

          • Russian вёдро vjódro fair weather
    • Germanic *wedrą weather, storm

      • North Germanic

        • Old Norse veðr weather

          • Icelandic veður weather, storm
          • Swedish väder weather
      • West Germanic

        • Old English weder sky, weather, season

          • English weather
        • Old High German wetar

          • German Wetter weather, storm
          • Yiddish וועטער veter weather
      • Germanic *unwedrą bad weather, storm

        • North Germanic

          • Old Norse óveðr

            • Icelandic óveður storm
            • Swedish oväder storm, bad weather
        • West Germanic

          • Old English unweder bad weather, storm

            • English unweather
          • Old High German unwetar

            • German Unwetter
    • Hellenic *áwethlon

      • Ancient Greek ἆθλον âthlon contest, prize, arena ^[2]

        • English -athlon

          • English triathlon
        • Greek άθλος áthlos feat, accomplishment, contest, task ^[2]
        • Ancient Greek ᾱ̓θλέω āthléō I contend, I wrestle, I compete

          • Ancient Greek ἀθλητής athlētḗs contender, combatant, champion, prizefighter

            • Greek αθλητής athlitís athlete, sportsman
            • Latin āthlēta wrestler, athlete

              • Western Romance

                • French athlète athlete

                  • English athlete
                • Italian atleta athlete
                • Spanish atleta athlete, fit person
          • Ancient Greek ἄθλημα áthlēma sport

            • Greek άθλημα áthlima sport
  • Proto-Indo-European *h₂wh₁nó-s windy

    • Italic

      • Latin vannus winnowing basket, winnowing fan

        • Western Romance

          • French van winnowing basket
          • Italian vanni wings (poetic)
        • Old English fann winnowing basket, fan

          • English fan
        • Old High German wanna tub ^[3]

          • German Wanne tub

            • German Badewanne bathtub
          • Yiddish וואַנע vane bathtub
          • Polish wanna bathtub, bath
          • Russian ва́нна vánna bath, bathtub
        • Latin vannō I fan, I winnow

          • Western Romance

            • French vanner to winnow, to shake about, to scrutinize, to stir
  • Proto-Indo-European *h₂wéh₁trih₂-n

    • Balto-Slavic *wetrā

      • East Baltic

        • Lithuanian vė́tra storm
      • Slavic *vě̀trъ wind

        • East Slavic

          • Russian ве́тер véter wind
        • South Slavic

          • Serbo-Croatian ве̏тар vȅtar wind
        • West Slavic

          • Polish wiatr wind
  • Proto-Indo-European ?

    • Hellenic *awetmós ^[4]

      • Ancient Greek ἀτμός atmos vapor, steam, smoke ^[4]

        • English atmo-

          • English atmosphere
        • Greek ατμός atmós steam, water vapor

Visual

Collected English words

nirvana, window, wind, winnow, vent, ventail, ventilate, ventouse, vent, weather, unweather, -athlon, triathlon, athlete, fan, atmo-, atmosphere

Footnotes

1. ^

   Possibly, a relative (of indeterminate degree) with Arabic هَوَاء hawāʔ: "empty space, void, air, atmosphere". In which case, it is an interesting data point in the question of how h₁ and h₂ were pronounced.

   There are two theories about where هَوَاء hawāʔ comes from. Synchronically (that is, in modern morphology, without regard to history), it derives from ه و ي h-w-y: "valley, depression", with the assumption that by extension, it means the empty/airy space in the valley. In which case it would be from Semitic *hVw: "fall upon", from Afro-Asiatic *haw: "fall").

   Less well attested, but more obviously connected is a possible Afro-Asiatic root *haway-: "blow", which appears in Chadic *haway-: "wind", Bachama hawey, Bata haue.

   Orel and Stubolva (Hamito-Semitic Etymological Dictionary, 1995) list Arabic hwy under both *haw and *haway-.

   Side note, if from the "valley"/"fall" option, the Hebrew reflex is הָיָה haya: "to happen, to occur, to be" as in נֵס גָּדוֹל הָיָה שָׁם nés gadól hayá shám: "A great miracle happened there." (the acronym represented by the four letters on a dreidel) and אֶהְיֶה אֲשֶׁר אֶהְיֶה ’ehyeh ’ăšer ’ehyeh: "I will be what I will be" (King James, "I am that I am"). This is thought to also be related to יהוה Yahweh, perhaps meaning either "he who is" or "he who sends down".

2. ^

   As in οἱ Ἡρακλέους ἆθλοι hoi Hērakleous athloi: "The Labours of Hercules".

3. ^

   I don't quite follow the semantic leap there, but everyone seems to agree that Old High German wanna comes from vannus. Possibly it was conflated with Latin balneum/Vulgar Latin *baneu/Spanish baño, meaning "bath").

4. ^

   My sources list ἀτμός from *h₂weh₁- via the given Hellenic form, but not the PIE form. I can't think of a way in either Proto-Indo-European or Greek to get that t in there between the root and the m.